English Listening: Denied a Credit Card | Episode 22

Listen to a story about how I was denied a credit card by my bank!

You’ll also learn how to pronounce words that end in the syllable -AR, like “dollar” and “regular.”

Welcome to the English Teacher Melanie Podcast, a podcast for intermediate to advanced English learners who want to improve their English listening and speaking skills!

Each episode includes a story and a pronunciation tip. In the story, I use core vocabulary, the most common words in English, to tell a real world story. The pronunciation tip will help you understand natural spoken English.

You’ll hear the story twice. The first time, the story is a little slower than normal. It sounds funny because I used editing software to change the speed of the story and make it slower. After the pronunciation tip, you’ll hear the story again, but at a regular speed.

THE STORY

I applied for a US-dollar credit card at my bank last year because the expenses for my website are all in US dollars. The Canadian dollar was weakening against the US dollar and it was becoming more expensive to pay my bills with Canadian dollars. I thought it was going to be a simple process to get the card, but the bank denied my application without any explanation! Denied! I needed this card, so I had to figure out what went wrong.

I called the bank right away. The customer service agent said it was an automated process and he couldn’t give me a definite answer. He said my credit score probably wasn’t high enough, and he told me to request my free credit report. The report contained my credit history from the last 7 years. There were no problems in my report. I didn’t miss any payments and I paid my bills on time. I still had no idea why my credit score may have been low or why my application was denied.

I called the company that prepared my credit report to ask if they had any insight. I had a department store credit card that I hadn’t used in 4 years. I thought that was a good thing. It showed that I could be trusted not to rack up debt. It turned out that this unused card was negatively affecting my credit score because it looked like I was wasting credit. I also had a regular Canadian-dollar credit card. This card had a balance greater than 50% of my credit limit, and that wasn’t good either.

To improve my credit score, I had to do two things. I had to cancel my department store credit card, and I had to pay down part of my regular credit card balance so that it was less than 50% of my limit. I waited a few months, then applied for the credit card again. This time, the bank approved my application and I got my US-dollar credit card.

PRONUNCIATION TIP

HOW TO PRONOUNCE WORDS THAT END IN THE SYLLABLE -AR, LIKE “DOLLAR” AND “REGULAR”

This transcript uses IPA symbols to represent sounds and teach pronunciation. Learn more about the IPA here.

One of the biggest mistakes that English learners make with English pronunciation is that they try to pronounce the word the way it is written.

You can’t do that in English.

There are some pronunciation guidelines that you can follow that will help you figure out how to say a word, but the best thing to do is to hear the word first, and then imitate the sounds that you hear.

Did you notice my pronunciation of the word dollar d-o-l-l-a-r? I often hear English learners say /’doʊlɑr/ which is wrong.

In this word, the letter O is not pronounced O, it’s pronounced /ɑ/, so the first syallable is pronounced /dɑl/, like the word doll.

The letter A is not pronounced /ɑ/. The -AR at the end of the word is a separate syllable and it’s pronounced ER /ɚ/: /’dɑlɚ/

Here are some words that rhyme with dollar:
taller, caller/collar, smaller, holler, scholar

It’s important to get the pronunciation right the first time you try to say a new word. If you keep pronouncing the word incorrectly over and over, it becomes a habit and it becomes harder to change & improve your pronunciation.

In the story, I also used the word regular. It ends with the -AR syllable, so
remember to pronounce the last syllable -ER /ɚ/. This is also true for the word grammar.

QUESTIONS

Do you have a credit card? How many credit cards do you have? Do you have any store credit cards?

Hi Melanie
First of all your website is amazing, congrats.
I really dont want to go through personal issues but what are the advantages on using a american Cred. Card once you live in Canada? Dont you have to pay it in CAD anyway?

Hello Gilberto! Thank you for your kind words about this website! I have a US$ bank account & I get paid in US$. I can pay my US$ credit card with US$ from my US$ bank account. It’s so much easier! It is too expensive to pay my bills with CAD.

Hi Melanie,
I´m for first time on your website and I´m really pleased. It´s a great idea to use the text twice time. The article´s managing, pronounce tip, this is a good job. Thanks for sharing.
And what about my credit card? I have one but I use it just for getting cash for a few days and I pay in cash. Are you smiling? O.K. but I´m worried from using card, because of following my activities, hackers like money pirates and I can see how much money I have in my wallet. Then I spend less money.

I have two credit cards and rarely use neither of them.. When I booked the flight ticket I use one of them. I pay the bill on time too!!! Always enjoy listening your podcast !!! My biggest problem is that end of d sound and end of t sound….when people pronounce I completely understand , but when I use it by myself I can’t do it right…!!! It’s gives me frustrate !!! Please help……

The T & D sounds are very similar! They are the same mouth position. The only difference is that the T sound is voiceless/unvoiced (it’s only air coming out of your mouth) & the D sound is voiced (your vocal cords produce a sound).

Hello,Melanie!
This is my first time to browse your website! And I read parts of your articles, I found it is interesting, I am English learner and my pronunciation is not good! I didn’t found the download link !
I didn’t have any credit card at all! Because I always forget the date of repayment and the interest is high if I didn’t run up debt on time!
Best wishes!

Hi,Melanie
I went to the desktop site opening INTERNET EXPLORER and I searched throughout the page,but I couldn’t find the download link.But when I opened FIREFOX I got the download link and downloaded the file.Although I may have a bit of difficulty downloading these useful podcasts as mobile phones are always more comfortable than laptops(Speed of my laptop is too slow so it takes nearly five times longer than my mobile(samsung GT C-3312),yet I am happy that here I can listen to podcasts online without having to download and share with my friends on facebook as well.Thank you!Melanie now they will do a world of good to me.But still I wish I could download the podcasts on my phone!

You don’t need to search the page for the download link! The podcast player is directly underneath the photo. There is a down arrow. This arrow is the download link. If you don’t see it using Internet Explorer, check to see if you are using the latest version of IE. If you prefer to listen to the episode on your phone, you can find a podcast app in the Google Play store. Look for the English Teacher Melanie Podcast.

hello Melanie. I was browsing on the internet and accidentally I saw your website.
I have read your articles and personally I think your advice are very useful for learners.
I wish you go on updating your website.
thank you very much :)

Do you have any problems sharing the card with your brother? How do you decide who will pay the bill?

I hope you get lots of points for using your credit card so much! In Canada, we have lots of rewards cards. For example, if you have an Aeroplan Visa card, for every dollar you spend, you get points that you can use to buy an airline ticket somewhere!

Thank you for sharing this story. It is very interesting. I used to have three credit cards. But I only used one of them. I cancelled the other two cards because I thought they were not useful. If you ask me why I applied for them in the first place. It is because I felt embarrassed to refuse the salesperson. But now I will politly tell them that I have credit cards already.

I have learned to be more assertive with salespeople as I get older! I feel comfortable now saying “I’m not interested!” or “No, thank you!” I got the department store card because there was a special offer. I was buying something at the store, and the salesperson said I could get a discount on it if I signed up for the credit card! Also, I could collect points to use for future purchases.

Hello Melanie, i have two credit cards although rarely i use one of them. I don’t have store credit cards. I have never being denied a credit card but as i am not a big spender- so to speak- , the bank denied me the Platinium credit card, which i don’t regret, i don’t like running into debts.

I don’t like running up debt either. I always keep my credit limit low so I’m not tempted. The bank would probably deny me a Platinum card, too! :)

Quick tip: “I don’t like to run up debt.” I used the phrasal verb rack up, but run up means the same thing. Run into is a different phrasal verb: “I ran into her at the mall! I hadn’t seen her in a while.”

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About Melanie

I help English learners move from the classroom into the real world by teaching you real world sentences and helping you understand natural spoken English. I also help you find the best study tips and training techniques that work for you!

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